Will Kindle DX be discontinued?

I have been wanting Kindle DX since spring this year which is a long time. I expected a release of new Kindles this fall, and lo and behold, Kindle 4 and Kindle Fire was released as I expected. I was surprised when Kindle DX, the gadget I really wanted wasn’t part of the upgrade and I wondered what the future for this device would be.

Since then a lot of forum threads have been about the future of Kindle DX, especially when it was offered with a 120$ reduction in price at Black Friday. Suddenly Kindle DX was offered in a nice price range, and I started to question wether to buy it or not. For several days I went back and forth, one moment deciding to buy it and two minutes later decide to wait on the decision a little bit longer. I googled and read every thread I found about Kindle DX and this nice sell. In the end I decided to save my bucks for now.

I have no statistics to lean on, and Amazon reveals only what they want on how many devices they sell. What I have is my impressions.

98% of the people with a Kindle DX loves it, it’s their favorite gadget and over 80% use it every day. Dedicated e-readers are a niche market, and such a large screen is even more of a niche. Most people use it for two things, read ebooks and their own pdf’s and the 9.7 ” screen is the big selling point. Did I say they were in love with the DX?

Most people think that Kindle DX will be discontinued and with good reason:

To find the DX in the store you have to know it’s there – by looking at the comparison matrix.

The DX has received no love, and since most think of it as such a niche market they conclude that it will be discontinued. If you look at DX as a separate product you are probably right.

My take is that the question whether or not the DX will be discontinued doesn’t matter.

Currently the dedicated e-readers (kindles) are all 6 inches, which is very small. The Kindles are differentiated by using buttons as interactions, touch screen or a keyboard.

There are already rumors about Kindle Fire will be offered with a larger screen, and I think this will happen with the e-readers as well. Screen size will be another choice available on Kindle. The question is what screen sizes will Amazon offer.

I think Kindle Fire and new Kindles will be offered up for sale in summer or fall of 2012 even though there are no rumors around to support my claim. I will purchase the largest e-reader screen that are at least 8 inches.

4 Responses to Will Kindle DX be discontinued?

I appreciate the thoughfulness of your article. I made the gut-wrenching decision not to purchase the Kindle DX because of concerns about it being discontinued and the fact that the firmware is not being updated. I fear that the new Kindle models will have the larger screen but with the backlight. I may breakdown and purchase it but now that I let the $120 discount pass. It will be harder to stomach the purchase price. Thanks for your article. Its good to know I am not the only one out there with the same experience and concern.

I went ahead, after going back and forth, and jumped at the Kindle DX. My sense is that perhaps the Kindle Fire will take the place of the large e-readers and that both Amazon and Barnes & Noble will stick with the small “paperback” size Kindle. When traveling, I have certainly seen people reading books on their iPad and expect to see the same with the Kindle Fire, which they mention constantly for reading magazines. The tech wave tends to favor the “smaller is better” philosophy, so I wanted to get a DX before they were gone.